²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[b] will mourn^(B) when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,^(C) with power and great glory.^{[c] 31} And he will send his angels^(D) with a loud trumpet call,^(E) and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray^(A) that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

¹⁸ The wrath of God^(A) is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

⁹ Since we have now been justified^(A) by his blood,^(B) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath^(C) through him!

¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven,^(A) whom he raised from the dead^(B)—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.^(C)

Believers Who Have Died

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed^(A) about those who sleep in death,^(B) so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.^{(C) 14} For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,^(D) and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.^{(E) 15} According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,^(F) will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.^{(G) 16} For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,^(H) with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel^(I) and with the trumpet call of God,^(J) and the dead in Christ will rise first.^(K)

⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath^(A) but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.^(B)

⁷ and if he rescued Lot,^(A) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(B) 8} (for that righteous man,^(C) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^(D) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^(E)